Impact of NICE guidance for children and young people

The report discusses a number of key areas including managing long-term conditions in children in the community, the learning disability health check programme and the transition process from children’s to adults’ services. 

1.7 milllion children and young people in England have long-term conditions such as asthma, diabetes or epilepsy. NICE has made recommendations on how care for children and young people with epilepsy should be delivered with accompanying quality standards.

Audit data from 2018 shows services have generally implemented this advice well, with 79 per cent of trusts in England routinely undertaking comprehensive care planning for children and young people with epilepsy.

Annual physical health checks

To address the health inequality that exists for people with a learning disability, NICE recommends an annual physical health check to quickly identify and manage underlying or emerging physical health problems.

While the number of health checks have increased overall, less than 50 per cent of children and young people receive them suggesting further work is required in this area.

Transition to adults’ healthcare services is often complex, involving multiple services and organisations including health, social care and education.

Improving the transition from child to adult services

NICE has produced general guidance and some condition-specific transition recommendations but acknowledges there is still much to do to improve the provision and coordination of child to adult transition services.

CSP professional advisor Abi Henderson said: ‘The NHS Long Term Plan for England prioritises the health care of children and young people in many areas.

'Much of this policy is underpinned by NICE guidance, therefore widespread uptake and implementation of these recommendations is key.’

The Association for Paediatric Chartered Physiotherapists (APCP) is asking members for their comments on existing and forthcoming NICE quality standards. Please do keep checking your APCP member emails for details.